1946–1949: (Down with Estimé: Trujillo’s Obsession with Hispaniola, the Dupuy-Roland Plot, Poison and Invasion Plans, and the Dominican Ambassador’s Bizarre …

1946–1949: (Down with Estimé: Trujillo’s Obsession with Hispaniola, the Dupuy-Roland Plot, Poison and Invasion Plans, and the Dominican Ambassador’s Bizarre Betrayal): Just as Toussaint and many another Haitian ruler feared that enemies would strike through Santo Domingo, Rafael Trujillo believed the Dominican Republic could never be secure unless it controlled all Hispaniola — this conviction drove him repeatedly to manipulate governments in Port-au-Prince, facilitated by the fact that his secret-police chief, the unsavory Anselmo Paulino, had a Haitian wife and had served as minister in the Haitian capital. One reason for the grudge between Trujillo and Estimé was the latter’s refusal, with what subsequently appeared good reason, to consent when Trujillo proposed Paulino for a second tour as minister in 1946. Throughout 1949 the Dominican strongman launched his most violent attacks — plots to poison Estimé, fomentation of sedition and insurrection, and finally invasion. Trujillo’s instrument was the mulâtre Astrel Roland, a former colonel in the Garde and familiar of Paulino since 1937, who had taken refuge in Ciudad Trujillo in 1948, working closely with Dr. Alfred Viau, a Haitian educator one of whose sons had been killed by Estimé’s police. The first manifestations were inflammatory broadcasts beamed at Haiti over La Voz Dominicana, vulgar and overheated, detailing alleged crimes by Estimé and charging him with keeping a mistress and four children in Paris — Port-au-Prince radio replied in kind. But more than insults passed between the two countries: as a 1950 investigation verified, Trujillo provided money and guns for killer-teams in the so-called Dupuy-Roland plot, which were to infiltrate Port-au-Prince, assassinate Colonel Magloire, Major Prosper the chief of police, and the president if possible, put the city to the torch, and link up with an invasion column to be led from Jimani across the Cul-de-Sac by Roland. The plot, dead serious and on the verge of execution, was foiled only when, in bizarre circumstances on December 26, 1949, it was betrayed to Estimé’s Foreign Minister by the Dominican ambassador in Port-au-Prince.